Sieve \Sieve\, n. [OE. sive, AS. sife; akin to D. zeef, zift, OHG. sib, G. sieb. [root]151a. Cf. Sift.]

1. A utensil for separating the finer and coarser parts of a pulverized or granulated substance from each other. It consist of a vessel, usually shallow, with the bottom perforated, or made of hair, wire, or the like, woven in meshes. ``In a sieve thrown and sifted.'' --Chaucer.

2. A kind of coarse basket. --Simmonds.

Sieve cells (Bot.), cribriform cells. See under Cribriform.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)